LAS HALDAS

Introduction
 The Haldas or The Aldas is a vast architectural complex
of the Formative of ancient Peru. It is located in the
province of Casma in the department of Ancash, at the
height of km 345 of the Panamericana Norte highway,
on the edge of the Pacific Ocean and 30 km south of
the Casma Valley. Its antiquity is calculated in 1800 to
1500 a.C. with signs of later occupations.
 Excavations and studies

 It was discovered in 1958 by Frédéric Engel and his collaborator Edward P.

Lanning. It was also explored that year by archaeologists from the University
of Tokyo and their Peruvian collaborators. In the 1960s, archaeologist Rosa
Fung Pineda made excavations in the area, who proposed a sequence of
four phases that go from the Early Formative to the Middle Formative. In the
1970s Terence Grieder worked there and determined that its construction
occurred after the introduction of ceramics. It is also worth mentioning the
work of T. G. Pozorski and S. G. Pozorski, who highlighted its importance as
one of the oldest monumental centers of its time.

 In addition to architectural structures, it is important to highlight the discovery

of fragments of small human ceramic figures, similar to those found in El
Áspero.
Chronology
 Numerous studies of these ruins have been carried out and although the
dates are not conclusive their maximum antiquity is calculated in 3000 a.C.

 Grieder identified three construction periods: the first extends from 1350 to
900 a.C. (the most important, when the monumental complex was raised),
the second from 900 to 890 a.C. (very brief, unfinished) and the third from
850 to 500 a.C. (in which small walls were built over the temple).
DESCRIPTION
 It is a ceremonial complex that rises next to a rocky outcrop, facing the sea. It is composed
of six platforms constructed from roughly carved basalt stones. It is 390 m long and 70 m
wide. Some have seen the form of a mythical animal in its urban deployment.2 It is a
complex similar to Sechín Alto, which is located only 25 km away. Both are contemporary
and share the same architectural tradition.

 Its structure or main pyramid, which rises on an elevation, is rectangular, almost

quadrangular. This structure is accompanied by lateral pyramids or secondary temples,
which have the same design as the main pyramid. On the upper platform of the main
temple there is a structure with three walls, which forms an U open to the east and which
contains the main elements of the cult.

 In the northwest direction, already in the plain, three immense rectangular squares extend.
One of them contains a sunken circular structure of 22 m in diameter, called a ceremonial
well, with stairs and stone walls, where evidence of ashes has been found, which would
indicate the presence of fire.
INPORTANCE
 Las Haldas es uno de los más antiguos e importantes centros monumentales del
Formativo en la costa peruana. Su cercanía al mar y el imponente paisaje
marino que se divisa desde la cima de su templo principal, con sus islotes de La
Gramita, permiten conjeturar que su ubicación pudo ser fijada en honor al
océano, la mamacocha o madre de las aguas, como la llamarían más tarde
los quechuas. Federico Kauffmann Doig sospecha que algo similar pudo ocurrir
con los posteriores santuarios de Paramonga, Pachacámac y otros.

 Su economía se basó fundamentalmente en la pesca. Rosa Fung propuso

tentativamente que el edificio habría cumplido las funciones de observatorio
astronómico, centro religioso y de control de la producción marina de la región
para su envío a los centros ceremoniales principales ubicados en los valles.